Just about to pull the trigger on Pontus 15th ...

@lanx0003 selfishly im glad you went ahead with the udac purchase. Your initial description & then comparison to the D90 seems familiar to my personal thoughts of R2R vs good chip dac. 

Once you have experienced the best qualities of something like the D90 it's hard to accept something less in my opinion. The detail, clarity, & perfect lines to notes or instruments. Similar to my early impressions of the Pontus. I liked the extra weight, the soundstage enlargement but I didn't think I would want to trade detail & clarity for it. With time the Pontus did eventually clean itself up. Which is what I guess the different Denafrips models do. You get a strong taste of the R2R attributes with their entry model & each step up gives you more & more of the precision of say a delta sigma. This is just my take on it..from a person who has only owned one denafrips or R2R dac. 

Give the Laiv it's due time. At even one month in with the 15th I was thinking to myself, WTF are all these people gushing over? You have good experience with dacs in your price range & the D90 is no slouch. Trust your ears which I'm sure you will. I see you are already looking at & considering bigger fish but just give the Laiv some hours. I'm just passing on what most people kept telling me & it did eventually work out. But I wouldn't mind stepping up another level past my P 15th. & I'm sure I will at some point. 

Definitely keep us posted & keep sharing your thoughts. I enjoy living thru other people's experiences & opinions on gear I haven't had the pleasure of trying. Good luck. 

@sls883  Is it the R30? I believe the prototype has been demoed at some shows. If it's what I think it is, this would be the R2R version of the X30, replicating its features—such as the OCXO clock, relay-based R2R volume control, built-in linear power supply (LPS), and other great features usually only found in high-end products from brands like Denafrips' Terminator. If that’s the case, that’s fantastic—it might even help or promote the X30's price a bit for those looking to jump in. I've never seen such consistently high marks (95 and above out of 100) across all sonic performance categories, including noise floor, resolution, dynamics, frequency response, and soundstage. It was even rated 'Outstanding' by Tarun.

@mattw73  I’ll continue marching on and patiently wait for the potential transformation of the µDAC. It’s received a lot of positive buzz from trustworthy reviewers, and I hope their assessments prove to be reliable.  I’m even willing to invest in a linear power supply or a better DDC for it, to see where it leads me.

@lanx0003 yeah, it is the R30.

I'm very happy with the X30.  I like it a lot more than the R26 that I had.  I'm sure the new R30 is also notably better than the R26. 

@sls883 @mattw73 

So far, I’ve accumulated 60 hours of listening and 40 hours of power-on time (operating at 104°F), in addition to the 100 hours of factory burn-in. Similar to my previous experience with the Gustard R26, I conducted a group, non-blind listening test comparing the CA MXN10’s internal DAC, the Topping D90 III Discrete, and the Harmony µDAC. All units were connected directly to my Cambridge Audio integrated amplifier, the Azur 851A.

The MXN10, highly praised by Stereophile and rated Class A, was used here as a benchmark. While the MXN10 is capable of audiophile-grade sound, its soundstage is rather flat.

For some music tracks, I switched among the devices every 30 seconds to leverage human short-term (active) memory. For genres like classical music, I listened to entire pieces and took notes throughout. The results were quite straightforward:

1. Between the µDAC and the MXN10, I heard more similarities than differences. There wasn’t much layering in the soundscape.

2. The D90 III Discrete consistently preserved soundstage layering—when present in the recording.

3. Other traits aligned with what I previously described.

It’s important to note that my inability to hear soundstage layering from the µDAC doesn’t mean other reviewers are wrong. Perhaps the µDAC is capable, just not in my setup. The D90 Discrete, on the other hand, renders layering convincingly, making me the happiest audiophile in the world - while also making me wonder, “What the heck, why can’t the µDAC do this?” I had the same expectations—and the same disappointment - with the R26 before.

It is time to let go of another piece of gear and move on.  I’m not sure if a flat fee of $125 spent on this adventure was worthwhile, but at least I had fun.

@lanx0003 Interesting findings.  If you had fun with the testing, it was worth it.  You could spend that much going out to dinner.

It's all about system synergy and personal preference. Hang in there until you find the right fit for you.